Non-resident Odias cheer opening of Jharsuguda Airport

BHUBANESWAR: Non-resident Odias (NRO) from western Odisha staying in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) celebrated the inauguration of Jharsuguda Airport in front of the iconic landmark and the tallest building in the world, Burj Khalifa, in Dubai on Friday.
A few families from western Odisha settled in the UAE had organised a small celebration in front of Burj Khalifa to celebrate the occasion. Wearing traditional Sambalpuri dresses, men and women with their children cut a specially designed cake and expressed joy as Jharsuguda joined India’s airport map.
It was a long pending demand of the people from western Odisha especially by the NROs. Nonresident western Odisha families have to endure long international flights to major airports like Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata and then wait for a connecting flight to Bhubaneswar or Raipur (two major airports in the region). “Later they take train or road journey to reach their home. People are now hopeful of a direct air link from major cities like Delhi and Kolkata,” said Rajesh Tripathy, who is the general manager of a leading business school in Dubai.
Priyadarshee Panigrahi, who works as a general manager in a company and is based in Dubai, said many businesses and institutions refuse to be based in Sambalpur and its surroundings due to lack of air connectivity. But this issue will be solved with the establishment of the Jharsuguda airport. It will boost the economy of the region and open new frontiers for business and tourism, he added.